1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in an inhaler type medicine administering device suitable for, for example, administering granular medicine into the lungs of a patient as the patient takes breaths.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, administering medicine into the lungs of an asthma patient or the like is carried out, for example, by injecting the medicine into the patient in two ways. The patient may inhale the medicine by using a liquid aerosol sprayer, or, where granular medicine is contained in a capsule, the patient may inhale the fine, granular medicine (having a grain size, for example, ranging from 5 to 10 mm) when the capsule breaks.
The capsule method of administering medicine is extensively employed because of readiness. This capsule method is usually accomplished as follows: The asthma patient holds an inhaler in hand and installs the capsule containing the granular medicine into the inhaler. Then, the patient breaks the capsule by making a hole in the capsule with a needle and holds an inhaling mouth of the inhaler in his or her mouth and takes breaths. As a result, the granular medicine is released through the broken holes of the capsule and sucked into the lungs of the patient.
However, difficulties have arisen with inhalers used in the above conventional medicine administering manner. The inhaler is adapted to form only one or two holes in the capsule so that the shape of the hole is nonuniform, thereby making it impossible to securely and sufficiently inhale the medicine. Additionally, a large amount of the granular medicine is unavoidably left in the capsule even after breathing-in action of the patient because of the broken shape or the opening area of the hole formed in the capsule. As a result, a predetermined amount of the medicine cannot be administered to the patient.
Furthermore, with the conventional inhaler, the granular medicine tends to adhere to the inner surface of the inhaling mouth. This not only lowers the medicine administering efficiency but also requires frequent cleaning of the inhaling mouth. Additionally, it is difficult to eject the empty capsule out of the inhaler after administration of the medicine. It takes a relatively long time to eject the capsule. Accordingly, the time the patient touches the inhaling mouth of the device or the like is prolonged, which is not desirable from a sanitary viewpoint.